JP2009164870A - Content management method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content management method and device which achieve a content management per user by using an existing content server as it is. <P>SOLUTION: A content management device in which server devices S1-Sm and client devices C1-Cn capable of receiving a distribution of a desired content from an arbitrary server device are connected to a network, has a virtual content list in which content within the network is listed and content list information for each user, a virtual server means VS accepting a content distribution request from a user by presenting the virtual content list to the client device, and a virtual client means (VC) transmitting the content distribution request to the concerned server device and receiving the content from the server device. The virtual server means transfers the content received by the virtual client means to a request source client device based on the virtual content list information of the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content management method and apparatus that enables user-specific content management in a network environment.

  In recent years, home network environments in which not only personal computers (PCs) but also home appliances such as televisions, hard disk recorders, and game machines in the home are connected by wired or wireless LAN are becoming widespread. In particular, the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) has established technical specifications and implementation guidelines necessary for home appliances to share digital content (see Non-Patent Document 1, for example), and has become an industry standard for home network environments. ing.

  DLNA is assumed to be used in a home network environment, and is stored in a digital media server (DMS) by a digital media player (DMP: Digital Media Player) connected to the network. Arbitrary content can be reproduced.

  Furthermore, in the UPnP-AV (Universal Plug and Play Audio / Video) standard that handles content such as video and music in a network, a content directory service (CDS :) for allowing a user to search for content and obtain detailed information about individual content objects. Content Directory Service) (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). By using the CDS, it is possible to provide a content list by uniformly enumerating contents of different types. By using this CDS, a function has also been proposed in which the content stored in the DMS can be viewed halfway and can be viewed later.

  In such a home network environment, one problem occurs when a plurality of users individually view a certain content. For example, after a user views the content stored in the hard disk recorder halfway, when another user who does not view the content tries to reproduce it, the content is reproduced from the continuation of the viewing by the previous user.

  In order to solve such a problem, Patent Document 1 proposes an AV server device that manages content viewing for each user.

DLNA Overview and Vision Whitepaper 2007 (URL: http://www.homeelectronics.jp/whitepaper/3.pdf) ContentDirectoryV1.0 For UPnPTM Version 1.0, June 25, 2002 (URL: http://www.upnp.org/standardizeddcps/documents/ContentDirectory1.0.pdf) JP 2007-158854 A

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to prepare an AV server device that manages content viewing for each user, and content management for each user is performed only when the server is accessed. In other words, a server that does not have this function cannot perform content management for each user.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a content management method and apparatus for realizing content management for each user by using an existing client / server system as it is.

The content management device of the present invention is a content management device in a system in which at least one server device storing content and at least one client device capable of receiving distribution of desired content from any server device are connected to a network. Because
Distributing content from an arbitrary user through an arbitrary client device by having a virtual content list that lists contents accessible on the network and content list information for each user, and publishing the virtual content list to the client device Virtual server means for accepting requests;
Virtual client means for transmitting the content distribution request to a server device storing the requested content, and receiving the requested content from the server device;
The virtual server means transfers the requested content received by the virtual client means to the requesting client device according to the content list information of the user.

  According to the present invention, content management for each user can be realized by using an existing client / server system as it is.

1. 1. Embodiment 1.1) System Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a content management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that one or a plurality of server apparatuses S1-Sm, one or a plurality of client apparatuses C1-Cn, and a virtual server 100 are connected to a network (m and n are 1 or more). integer). The virtual server 100 may be connected to the network as a single device, but may be mounted on a relay device or a client device such as a router or a switching hub connected to the network as will be described later.

  Server apparatuses S1-Sm store contents M1-Mm, respectively, and publish a content list indicating the contents of each content to the network. The client devices C1 to Cn have a function of making a content distribution request to a server and receiving and reproducing the content from the server by a user operation. Here, a case where a plurality of users U1-Uk use the client device C1 is illustrated.

  When a plurality of users use the virtual server 100, it is necessary to identify the user who is currently operating, but various existing methods can be adopted for this user identification. For example, the client device may be provided with an input function for biometric authentication such as fingerprint or password authentication. With this configuration, viewing information, reproduction information, and the like are not browsed by other users, so that user privacy can be protected. As another method, the virtual server 100 can publish a virtual content list V-LIST for each user and specify the user name from the user list to identify the user.

  The virtual server 100 has a virtual content list V-LIST and a virtual client VC, and is connected to the network as a server and a client. As a client, those content lists are collected from the available server apparatuses S1-Sm. The server creates a virtual content list V-LIST using the collected content list and publishes it to the client. If the virtual server 100 can register a predetermined number of users, user identification can be easily performed by registering a user name. The virtual server 100 associates and stores a virtual content list accessible to each of the users U1 to Uk and virtual content list information (hereinafter referred to as metadata) for each user, thereby performing content management for each user. It is possible.

1.2) System Operation First, when the virtual server 100 is activated, the virtual client VC collects the content list LIST1-LISTm from the server devices S1-Sm available on the network (step S1). Subsequently, the virtual server 100 generates and stores a virtual content list V-LIST for each user using the collected content lists LIST1-LISTm. At that time, metadata for each user may be stored in association with the virtual content list V-LIST. Each user's metadata is access-related information for each user's content, and can include, for example, history information that each user has accessed each content, or viewing position information when each content is viewed halfway. . The user can access desired content by referring to the virtual content list V-LIST.

  For example, it is assumed that the user U1 makes a distribution request for content M1 (for example, video) in the server device S1 using the client device C1 (step S2). Upon receiving this content distribution request, the virtual server 100 transmits the content distribution request to the server device S1 using the virtual client VC (step S3). Receiving the content distribution request, the server device S1 distributes the corresponding content to the virtual client VC (step S4).

  When the virtual client VC receives the content from the server device S1, the virtual server 100 refers to the virtual content list V-LIST of the user U1 who has requested distribution of the content and the metadata of the user U1, and sends the content to the client device C1. Content is distributed (step S5). Thus, the user U1 can view desired content according to his / her metadata through the client device C1. For example, since the viewing position information is stored as metadata when viewed halfway last time, when the user U1 tries to view the same content next time, the user can view from the last viewed content.

  When another user U2 makes a distribution request to view the same content for the first time, the content is distributed from the server device S1 to the virtual client VC according to steps S2-S4 described above. When the virtual client VC receives content from the server device S1, the virtual server 100 refers to the virtual content list and metadata of the user U2 who has requested distribution of the content, and distributes the content to the client device C1 (step S5). ). Therefore, the user U2 can view the same content as the user U1 through the client device C1 according to his / her metadata (that is, from the beginning) regardless of the viewing of the user U1.

1.3) Effect As described above, the user can make a virtual content list V-LIST for each user published by the virtual server VS in the same manner as the content list LIST1-LISTm published by the server devices S1-Sm connected to the network. The desired content can be viewed according to the own virtual content list information. At that time, the client device C1 accesses the virtual server 100 to receive the content as in the case of the server device S1-Sm, and the server device S1-Sm is the same as in the case of the client device C1-Cn. The content is distributed to the virtual client VC.

  Therefore, even if the virtual server 100 according to the present embodiment is connected to the network, it is not necessary to make any changes to the existing client / server systems of the client devices C1-Cn and the server devices S1-Sm connected to the network. That is, content management for each user can be realized by using an existing content server as it is.

1.4) Virtual Server Mounting Location The virtual server 100 only needs to be mounted in the network, and is preferably mounted on a network communication device different from the existing client / server system.

  FIGS. 2A to 2C are network diagrams respectively showing examples of mounting virtual servers in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the virtual server 100 is preferably mounted on a dedicated device 20 that can be connected to a network. That is, the present embodiment can be configured only by connecting the dedicated device 20 on which the virtual server 100 is mounted to a network including the router 10 (or the switching hub), the server 11 and the client 12 by cable connection. In other words, there is an advantage that the dedicated device 20 functions as a content management device, and the content management system according to the present embodiment can be configured without changing the existing client / server system at all.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, even if the virtual server 100 is mounted on the router 10, the content management according to the present embodiment is performed without changing the existing client / server system (for example, DLNA device connection environment) at all. The system can be configured. By implementing the virtual server 100 in the router 10, for example, content management can be performed without complicating the home network. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2C, a virtual server 100 can be mounted on the client device.

2. 2. Embodiment 2.1) Content Management System FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a content management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that the content management apparatus 210 is built in the router of the home network 200, the DMS 220 as a content server, and the DMP 230 as a client are connected to the home network 200. The DMS 220 is a hard disk recorder or a network type hard disk that stores contents, and the DMP 230 is a television, PC, network media player, audio system, or the like that can reproduce the contents.

  The content management apparatus 210 built in the router includes a user-specific virtual content list V-LIST and a memory 211 storing metadata, a program memory 212 storing programs for realizing a virtual DMS and a virtual DMP, and these programs And a control unit 213 that implements virtual DMS and virtual DMP, and an interface 214 for connecting to the home network 200. The control unit 213 is a program control processor such as a CPU that can execute a program for realizing the virtual DMS and the virtual DMP. The control unit 213 and the interface 214 may be a router control unit and an interface.

  The DMS 220 stores content and publishes a content list indicating the content to the network. The DMP 230 has a function of making a content distribution request to the DMS and receiving and playing back the content from the DMS by a user operation.

  The virtual DMS of the content management apparatus 210 can identify a plurality of users User1, User2,... As described above, and manages content for each user according to each user's metadata and virtual content list stored in the memory 211. can do. Each user's metadata is access-related information for each content of the user, and includes, for example, history information that each user has accessed each content, and viewing position information when each content is viewed halfway. it can.

  Note that the configuration of the content management apparatus 210 described above is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. Here, the virtual DMS and the virtual DMP are realized by software, but the same function can be configured by hardware. Further, a known device compatible with DLNA may be used for the DMS 220 and the DMP 230, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

2.2) Content List FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example of a content list published by DMS, and FIG. 4B is a diagram of a virtual content list V-LIST for each user in the content management system according to the present embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the DMS content list is a list of contents stored in the DMS 220, with a root folder at the apex, under which video content (Video), Folders are configured according to content categories such as audio content (Audio) and image content (Image). Here, it is shown that the Video folder 302 and the Audio folder 303 exist under the Root folder 301, and the moving image contents “1.mpg” and “2.mpg” are stored in the Video folder 302.

  On the other hand, the virtual content list V-LIST of the content management apparatus 210 is created for each user based on the DMS content list in the home network 200 acquired by the virtual DMP, as shown in FIG. It has been done. That is, a user (User) folder is added immediately under the Root folder, and a folder for each category is created under each User folder. Here, a User1 folder 402a, a User2 folder 402b,... Are added immediately below the Root folder 401, and a Video folder 403a, 403b,... And an Audio folder 404a, 404b,.

  User folders may be prepared for the number of users to be used, and a user folder to be used may be determined for each user. At this time, addition, deletion, editing, etc. of the User folder may be performed through the operation unit (not shown) of the DMP 230 or the content management apparatus 210. Which user uses which User folder is determined in advance, and each user refers only to the contents in the User folder assigned to him / her.

  Assume that the virtual content list V-LIST shown in FIG. 2B is provided to the DMP 230. For example, when a user assigned with the User1 folder tries to play back content, the user operates the DMP 230 to access the User1 folder 402a from the Root folder 401. Under the User1 folder 402a, there are genre-specific folders such as the Video folder 403a and the Audio folder 404a, so that desired contents can be selected from them.

  For example, when “1.mpg” is selected, the virtual DMP functioning on the control unit 213 of the content management apparatus 210 acquires the content existing in the DMS 220, and the virtual DMS requests the content to the DMP 230. Deliver to. Accordingly, the content selected by the user is reproduced in the DMP 230. At this time, the virtual DMS on the control unit 213 updates metadata such as viewing information and playback information that need to be managed individually for each user, and associates the metadata with “1.mpg” in the Video folder 403a. To store.

  In the above example, when another user to which the User2 folder is assigned tries to play the same content “1.mpg”, the user accesses “1.mpg” in the Video folder 403b. Are managed in separate metadata. As described above, the virtual content list V-LIST can manage content independently for each user by managing the content for each user in a separate folder and storing the metadata of the content for each user. .

  The virtual content list V-LIST does not change any Video folder or Audio folder other than the User folder. Therefore, the User1 and User2 Video folders 403a and 403b and the Audio folders 404a and 404b have the same contents.

2.3) Content Management Method FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing creation of a user-specific content list in an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the operation of the content management apparatus 210 shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

  First, when the content management apparatus 210 is activated (S501), the control unit 213 activates a virtual DMP and a virtual DMS (S502). The virtual DMP searches on the same subnet address according to the DLNA specification, and a connectable DMS is found. It is confirmed whether or not it exists (S503).

  When there is a connectable DMS 220 (S503: YES), the virtual DMP acquires a DMS content list from the DMS 220 according to the DLNA specification (S504). When the DMS content list is acquired, the virtual DMS creates a virtual content list V-LIST as described above based on the acquired DMS content list (S505), and metadata and access-related information for each user The data are stored in the memory 211 in association with each other (S506). The virtual content list V-LIST created in this way is distributed to the DMP 230 according to the use of DLNA (S507).

  In this way, each user can request distribution of desired content by referring to the virtual content list V-LIST using the DMP 230.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a content management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that the content management apparatus 210 is waiting for a content distribution request from the DMP.

  When a certain user refers to the virtual content list V-LIST of the user using the DMP 230 and requests distribution of desired content (S601: YES), the virtual DMS determines from the accessed user name of the virtual content list V-LIST. The user is identified (S602). Subsequently, the virtual DMS transmits a content distribution request to the DMS 220 storing the content requested by the user using the virtual DMP (S603). Upon receiving the content distribution request, the DMS 220 distributes the corresponding content to the virtual DMP.

  When the virtual DMP receives the content from the DMS 220, the virtual DMS refers to the metadata of the user who has requested distribution of the content, and transfers the content to the DMP 230 (step S604). The virtual DMS continues the content distribution until the content distribution is terminated by the distribution completion notification from the DMS 220 or the distribution stop request from the DMP 230 (S605: NO). When the content distribution ends (S605: YES), the virtual DMS updates the metadata of the user (S606). For example, when the content distribution is completed, the metadata is updated to information indicating that the content has been viewed, and if the content is in the middle, the location information is updated. By storing such metadata in the memory 211, when the same user tries to view the same content next time, it can be viewed from the continuation of the previous viewing.

  As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to manage content for each user by using existing DLNA compatible devices (DMS 220 and DMP 230) in the home network as they are. Further, even if there are a plurality of DMSs 220, content management for each user can be performed similarly.

  In this embodiment, the configuration in which the content management device is mounted on the router as shown in FIG. 2B has been described as an example. However, the content management device is mounted on a dedicated device as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 2C, it is apparent that the effects of the present invention can be obtained by the same operation as shown in FIGS.

  The present invention is generally applicable to content management in a home network or the like.

It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the content management system by one Embodiment of this invention. (A)-(C) are the network diagrams which respectively show the implementation example of the virtual server in this embodiment. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a content management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the content list which DMS makes public, (B) is a figure which shows an example of the virtual content list V-LIST classified by user in the content management system by a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows preparation of the content list classified by user in one Example of this invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a content management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 router 11 server 12 client 100 virtual server 200 home network 210 content management device 211 memory 212 program memory 213 control unit 214 interface 220 DMS
230 DMP

Claims (8)

A content management device in a system in which at least one server device storing content and at least one client device capable of receiving distribution of desired content from any server device are connected to a network,
Distributing content from an arbitrary user through an arbitrary client device by having a virtual content list that lists contents accessible on the network and content list information for each user, and publishing the virtual content list to the client device Virtual server means for accepting requests;
Virtual client means for transmitting the content distribution request to a server device storing the requested content, and receiving the requested content from the server device;
And the virtual server means transfers the requested content received by the virtual client means to the requesting client apparatus according to the content list information of the user.   The content management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the virtual server unit updates the content list information of the user by transferring the request target content to the requesting client apparatus.   A relay device that is mounted with the content management device according to claim 1 and connected to the network.   A client device in which the content management device according to claim 1 or 2 is mounted. A content management method in a system in which at least one server device storing content and at least one client device capable of receiving distribution of desired content from an arbitrary server device are connected to a network,
Storing a virtual content list in which contents accessible on the network are listed and content list information for each user in a storage unit;
Accepting a content delivery request from any user through any client device by publishing the virtual content list to the client device,
Sending the content delivery request to a server device storing the requested content;
Receiving the requested content from the server device;
Transferring the requested content to the requesting client device according to the content list information of the user;
A content management method characterized by the above.   6. The content management method according to claim 5, wherein the content list information of the user is updated by transferring the request target content to the requesting client device. A content management system in a network in which at least one server device storing content and at least one client device capable of receiving distribution of desired content from any server device are connected,
Distributing content from an arbitrary user through an arbitrary client device by having a virtual content list that lists contents accessible on the network and content list information for each user, and publishing the virtual content list to the client device Virtual server means for accepting requests;
Virtual client means for transmitting the content distribution request to a server device storing the requested content, and receiving the requested content from the server device;
And the virtual server means transfers the requested content received by the virtual client means to the requesting client device according to the content list information of the user. In a system in which at least one server device storing content and at least one client device capable of receiving distribution of desired content from any server device are connected to a network,
Distributing content from an arbitrary user through an arbitrary client device by having a virtual content list that lists contents accessible on the network and content list information for each user, and publishing the virtual content list to the client device Virtual server means for accepting requests;
Virtual client means for transmitting the content distribution request to a server device storing the requested content, and receiving the requested content from the server device;
And the virtual server means functions as a content management apparatus that transfers the requested content received by the virtual client means to the requesting client apparatus according to the content list information of the user.

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